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In Beneath These Streets, after New York appears to suffer an earthquake, the ever-enthusiastic Ray heads off into the sewers by himself to find out more. There, he learns that ghosts are gathering for a massive attack on the city![2]

When New York was experiencing a localized heat wave during the summer, an added earthquake made the Ghostbusters suspicious of paranormal foul play. More so, they haven't busted ghosts in two weeks. When the water pressure in their bathroom went crazy, they discovered unusually high concentrations of ectoplasmic energy residue. Ray is the most excited to explore the sewers but Peter dismissed it all as a wild goose chase. Soon enough, they went to the sewers to investigate. Egon's working theory was an inversion caused by an ectological cross rip in which elemental imbalances took hold. They found an extremely corrosive orange gel seeping through the sewer's foundation and over 40 ghosts in the sewers. Ray recalled an old urban legend from his childhood, Manhattan Island was held up by a stone pillar. If the pillar ever broke, Manhattan would sink into the ocean. Egon confirmed the existence of an ethereal spring in the least. Since they weren't equipped for all the ghosts and they were not being paid, they took a sample of the gel in a Trap back for testing and called it a night.

Egon put the gel in an analyzer but the read out wouldn't be ready until morning. Unfortunately, Ray couldn't wait until morning and went back on his own with Slimer. They followed some ghosts down a tunnel and Ray was attacked. He ordered Slimer to get help. During the fight Ray blasted a strange drain plug and fell into a deep cavern.

The next morning, Janine arrived and couldn't find Slimer. Slimer returned to the Firehouse and managed to tell her Ray was in trouble after spitting out Ecto-1's license plate and acting out the message. Janine went upstairs and woke everyone up. Egon learned from the read out that the orange gel had very high P.S.I. readings that made it very dangerous but that the base substance was actually an inorganic suspension with a high quotient of lubricity, making it similar to axle grease. They jumped into Janine's Car and went to find where Ray had left Ecto-1. The earthquakes got worse and they plummet underground. Peter made his way to Ecto-1 to unload the gear.

Ray finally waked up and explored further until he came upon a vast room. There he found a spinning pillar, the Pillar of New York. While he theorized the gel might be a lubricant for the Pillar, more of a gyroscope really, Ray is attacked by the ghosts. The others eventually made it to the hole Ray fell through and aided him in fending off the ghosts in the chamber that held the Pillar of New York. Ray found where the ghost had blocked off the flow of orange gel to the Pillar and the guys blasted the blockage. When the orange gel flowed over the Pillar, the tremors effecting Manhattan ceased.

Although Egon didn't know if ancient gods, a lost civilization, Atlantis, or something else built the Pillar, the were able to determine that its gyroscopic properties did stabilize Manhattan. The city officials didn't believe the Ghostbusters' story about the Pillar of New York, but they paid them anyway for stopping the earthquakes. Winston and Peter got to work on fixing Janine's car while Ray fed Slimer.

After Janine's Car falls underground, Peter refers to AAA or the American Automobile Association. It is a club that offers incentives to its members such as travel and insurance discounts.

When briefly pondering the origins of the Pillar of New York, Egon mentions the lost city of Atlantis.

Janine mentions she lives in the Bronx although she is later depicted to be living in Brooklyn.[5]

Coincidentally, this episode has some parallels to Ghostbusters II including a brightly colored goo bubbling up from the sewer and a Ghostbuster hanging from a rope over a pit. The episode predates the movie by two years.